After Work Walk at Leita Thompson Memorial Park

Come celebrate Jamaican Independence Day with me at Leita Thompson Memorial Park. There are three trail routes, the longest of which (red) is 2.25 miles long.  We'll loop around the lake for an additional quarter mile and circle around the dog park which should give us somewhere just under 3 miles. If I'm feeling ambitious I may offer to repeat the entire circuit a second time for double mileage, but that will be optional and the official hike will end at the 3 mile mark. 

Most of the trail is lined with small gravel, so it should be less challenging from a navigation perspective than some of the more root-laden trails of the Chattahoochee River NRA parks that we typically frequent. The pace for this hike will average around the 2.5 mph mark (with very brief peaks up to 5.5 mph).  This won't be a fitness hike by any means, but it won't be agonizingly slow, hence the moderate pace rating.

We will meet in the parking lot behind the green-roofed pavilion. Note that the address and coordinates given are for the entire park.  There are 3 parking lots (more info below). There are no bathrooms, but there are three sets of Porta Potties® throughout the park.

To minimize the hidden danger of tripping over dogs, I’m allowing no more than 2 well-behaved dogs on the hike, so if 2 dogs are already listed, please do not add yours. If you bring your dog, it must be kept on leash at all times.

General information and trail map (second image): http://thefarm.typepad.com/ngmo/2009/06/leita-thompson-memorial-park.html

History of the park: http://www.northfulton.com/Articles-i-2002-05-30-120013.112113_Leita_Thompson_Memorial_Gardens_open.html

Thanks to Sue M. for the directions.  Image courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/laurabl (licensed under Creative Commons).

1200 Woodstock Rd 
Roswell, GA 30075

It's best to use maps.google.com and map directions from your destination. You can go to maps.google.com and enter the bold text below in to the search bar. If you chose Satelite View, you can see a birdseye view of the parking lot.

34.06315, -84.40678

There are 3 parking areas, the first is the dog park, the 2nd is the arts center and the third is the walking trails where we will meet.   There is a green-roofed pavillion very close to Woodstock Rd. You can see it easily from the road and it says "Leita Thompson Pavillion." There is a road on the East side of that and it leads directly to the parking lot. 

You may want to (or need to) park in the overflow parking lot that can be accessed from the main lot if the main lot is full.  It's only 1/8 of a mile down a shaded road.